After my Coker booboos yesterday I am wanting to get some knee and elbow pads for when my momentum gets transfered into the pavement. Although I should worry about hard hits I am mostly worried aobut just preventing the kinds of abrasions I received yesterday, see “Coker Booboos” for pictures.
Anyone have any recomendations for pads?
I was considering the 661 veggie knee pads and the 661 chciken wing elbow pads. I think they’d feel less bulky than the plastic shell kind liek the DJ series from 661.
For crashing on pavement you want a hard outer shell. The hard shell slides on the pavement. Fabric covered pads will stick to the pavement preventing you from sliding as well and will be more likely to be pulled off your knee or elbow when you do slide.
Best bet is to go to a shop that sells inline skate gear and try on some different pads. Find one that is comfortable for you throughout the pedaling range of motion. The bulky extreme pads (like for aggressive skating) are way overkill for unicycling use. Find some nice thin low profile pads.
Go for the hard shell–bad scratches are a total drag, but they do not even begin to compare to a shattered elbow or knee or wrist–believe me, I know…about two and a half weeks ago I destroyed my right elbow while freemounting my 29er. It was a bloody compound fracture and I spent 4 days in the hospital, with surgery and a lot more to come.
So instead of riding my beloved souped-up Sun 29 converted hotrod unicycle, I’m stuck at home with a cast that feels as heavy as a bowling ball. The doctors are not enthused about a full recovery, and my life has been turned upside-down over this.
Not to mention the rotten case of uni-withdrawal I am currently going through.
Every morning I wake up and curse myself for not wearing elbow pads–I wore knee pads and wrist guards and a helmet, but the sidewalk got me where I was unguarded–I am paying for it now, and may have to pay for it for the rest of my life.
Geez! Sorry to hear that. It sounds “unbelievable.”
I’d never guess that it’s possible to do so much damage freemounting (aside from wrist fractures or perhaps sprained ankles).
Are you saying that you were wearing 661’s during the accident?
Sometimes I have trouble believing it myself, it is so absurd, but painfully true.
No. I dont know how the 661’s would have responded to what happened to me, I was really picking up on what John pointed out about the hard shells. Who knows, perhaps the 661s could have prevented my injury, but I tend to believe that the impact was so severe that only a hard shell could have had a chance of deflecting it…
I described this unfortunate event in a previous thread,
I totally missed that thread you posted.
Recently, one of the local riders and I rode 9 miles of trail. He noticed I had my arm armor, and asked, “should I bring it?” I said yes, and mentioned that it was worth the 2-3 degrees of “heat” that people claim to feel. Soon into the trail, he did a Superman dive down onto a rocky hill and slid a few feet. He was glad he wore the armor because he estimated that he would have had a cut the length of his forearm.
I’ve noticed that when I don’t wear arm armor, I end up with injuries to the arms. I fall harder because I am tall and lack the graceful falling that others have.
You are being a much better “sport” about this than I would be. If I believed that “this would happen to me” I would sell my uni cheap right away (let alone planning to ride again after the injury). Unicycling isn’t worth that type of damage to me.
Because of my experience and your story, you may see me riding with a hat instead of a helmet one day . . . but I doubt you will see me without arm armor.
I feel bad for dogbowl. I can’t imagine thrashing my elbow like that. However, regarding this thread. From what I understand dogbowl broke it NOT while riding fast on his uni but while freemounting.
Now guyiknow says he scratched his elbow and knee after a UPD so I would say along w/ getting the knee and elbow pads, he should try to ‘fall’ properly and try to ROLL when you UDP. I am no gymnist but I had my shares of UPD while riding my Coker and rolling will tranfer your body weight more evenly thereby less injury.
For my protection, I wear a tight knee and elbow soft pads. Get a backpack along with it to protect your back. I have a hard shell which I wear when MUni only. I mostly cruise and freestyle which requires more free movement on my joints.
One more piece of advice when riding fast is to LEAN forward so you don’t fall backward. UPD forward is better then backward, we can all agree.
I am guessing dogbowl is of younger age then I in my 30s, so I hope he can ride sooner then what doctors say. Get well soon dogbowl, prove the doctors they are wrong about your recovery time!
Three weeks ago I fell off my Coker and I deserved it.
I am a fresh Coker rider - received the big wheel at the beginning of this year. After having problems with my Achilles tendon I didn’t ride as much as I had planned. Then a month ago I decided it was time to tune up the Coker (which in fact was waay to early). I upgraded with airfoil rim, 29"-tube, 127 mm cranks, air seat, brake, GB handles - the works.
On the maiden voyage it felt like riding a completely new unicycle far from the doughy stock version. I told myself to go very easy and stay within the limits of ‘safety riding’. So what do I do? After 15 km into the ride on a slight descend I want to see how fast I can go. Incredible. And, while pedalling faster and faster I take another marvellous decision; I bend my head down trying to read the cycle computer. BANG! I tip over and hit the pavement with my right elbow, I glide a bit and roll over.
Needless to say the elbow hurts like hell. It looked like hamburger but after I had wiped the blood away I saw it wasn’t too bad. No need for needling. No fracture. I wore my skate helmet and wrist guards. The wrist guards have a plastic insert which allowed me to glide on them after hitting the ground.
I am thankful this happened while I was doing something completely foolish. There is absolutely no doubt about why I fell; I rode way over my limits. If this had happened on another part of the ride when I was behaving myself I would have been worried and perhaps also thinking about getting more armour.
Instead I have made a solemn oath never to be foolish on my Coker again. I will not start wearing elbow pads or knee pads while Cokering. On the other hand I will never ride without helmet and wrist guards.
Luckily both of my falls were forward. Teh first one I simply slipped off forward and landed on ym knees and then my hands there wasn’t much momentum as I was going uphill. The second one however I did manage to roll somewhat, that is how the elbow got involved. I landed on ym knees first, then rolled toward my right side and ended up on my back. I also managed to scratch up my pump that was in the pump port on my camelbak. I am just glad I didnt’damage my ipod which was in teh outer pocket of my camelbak.
One thing that is true–the unicycle is more stable when going forward than standing still, and falling off a moving unicycle gives you a few extra seconds to recover. I must have fallen off all my unicycles hundreds, maybe even thousands of times without a scratch, and most of the time I fell on my feet. In my opinion, a unicycle may be similar to an airplane–an awkward machine that is problematic when resting on the ground and not moving, (these are the words of a flight mechanic I know) but once it gets going, it is totally stable–depending on the skill of the rider. So ironically, it could be argued that it is a lot better to crash when the unicycle has momentum, than to crash while freemounting.
Even beginners manage to jump off and land on their feet after going a few feet.
Thanks leadpan! But actually, I am older than you are–I’m 45! Too old for freemounting injuries!
I can’t wait to get back on the damned one-wheel–maybe with full BMX armor next time…
Thanks leadpan! But actually, I am older than you are–I’m 45! Too old for freemounting injuries!